Your Thoughts: The Muppet Show Season 3

[Super Scooter]

By the way, how mnay epsiodes feature that Frank Oz-voiced character who doens't appear on-screen? I know that he can be heard in the introduction for Octopuses Garden, and one of Raquel Welch's number,s but were there any others?

The voice pops up quite a few times on the show. I'll have to count the next time I go through the set.

 

[David French]

Small error on my behalf in last post - Muppet Movie began production in Summer 1978, hence the hiatus that occurs during production of TMS Season Three.

Re-read copy of Christopher Finch's Jim Henson: The Works book. Sorry about that.

 

[bazooka_beak]

I'm on disc two and my favorite episodes so far are the Pearl Bailey and Gilda Radner ones Pearl was completely natural, like she'd been working with the muppets for years. The ending was great.

I didn't like the first episode with the singing couple, though. They felt wooden and overall it was rather boring. I can't wait to watch more, since most of these I've never seen.

Some of these celebrity names I had to google, others I sorta knew, others I could actually get excited about.

Is it just me or do they seem big on dancing bird people this season?

 

[Davina]

my favorite episode is the Danny Kaye one.. but then, I'm a big fan of his old movies and such, so to have him being silly along side the muppets was really great for me.

 

[Kermieuk]

Also working my way through the set. Just finished watching Harry Belafonte, although I have seen it many times, but I still love it.

Its great to read about each episode on Muppet Wiki before watching them, it gives tips on things to watch out for and some stories of how that epsiode or sketch came to be. Also if you click on each guest star name it links to a page that gives info on each guest. Its quite sad when you read that Gilder Radner died of ovarian Cancer at a young age, and that Pearl Bailey collapsed and died in a Hotel, makes watching the episodes of them even more special.

I also noticed how some of the puppets had a make over mid season, starting with the Balefonte Episode. I guess this is when Kermit first appeared made of Fleece, unless its the puppet used for The Muppet Movie? Piggy had also had a makeover, up until now I though each season meant a new set of puppets, but not the case!

Still season three is great, there is not a single episode that I do not like!

Now for another problem, I have all 120 epsodes of The Muppet Show on VHS, mostly from various sources, Nickelodeon, US, Canadian re runs etc. What do I do with them now? As season 2 and three are both COMPLETE it seems silly to keep all these VHS tapes, but some have the original ITC ending, but does that few seconds really justify keeping them all, with the better sound and picture quality, I would always watch the DVD's in the future anyway? Just wandered what others in this situation were doing?

Chris

 

[Super Scooter]

I also noticed how some of the puppets had a make over mid season, starting with the Balefonte Episode. I guess this is when Kermit first appeared made of Fleece, unless its the puppet used for The Muppet Movie? Piggy had also had a makeover, up until now I though each season meant a new set of puppets, but not the case!

Actually, there are at least two Fozzie puppets used during season two (I actually think there might be three). I don't remember which it is, but there are occasions in season 2 where two very different Fozze Bear puppets are used within the same episode! Then in the Edgar Bergen episode, when Gonzo wrestles the brick, he's season two Gonzo, when he comes backstage from his wrestling disaster, he's season one Gonzo. There's a lot of puppet switching that goes on.

 

[peyjenk]

So I watched "A Company of Players" today and was majorly disappointed. I knew from MC that it would be short, but it was so well-put together and so cool that it made me sad that it only lasted 10 minutes and had nothing new to say or show. It felt more like a preview of a documentary than an actual DVD featurette. I mean, seriously: what were they thinking? Very, very frustrating.

Another thing that makes me want to bang my head against the wall: on the back of the DVD box, it references the "hardest working muppets in show business". Uuuh... hello... they are the ONLY Muppets in show business and the word "Muppet" is capitalized. That's a small thing, I know, but it just shows that whoever puts these things together really doesn't know much about Jim Henson or the Muppets.

On a more positive note, though, I was pleased that Disney and Sesame were able to work it out to have Big Bird in the Leslie Uggams ep. It would have been a shame to have edited him out.

 

[Davina]

oohh.. good question about the tapes... i haven't even given thought to that yet... I've also got a fairly complete, taped from reruns here and there collection, which also includes a lot of specials we haven't seen on dvd yet (though we just got a dvd recorder so am thinking of transfering them..)
I suppose I'll have to go through them all and see if there are bits I want to keep along with the specials (maybe some of those "missing" bits from season 1..) and transfer them... dang that's going to be a big project.....

 

[Super Scooter]

I actually hadn't seen much of The Muppet Show before the DVDs started coming out (other than on compilation videos). So, most of this is all new to me. One exception would be the complete season one, which I got in a trade before it was ever announced to come on DVD. I'm keeping them (or at least the episodes that were cut) so that I can watch the full episodes. The Paul Williams episode loses something when you don't get to see the opening number. Now, if they ever come out with an uncut season one set, then I'll get rid of the other ones.

Personally, the original Zoot endings aren't that important to me. I mean, it is a bit odd that an entire episode could take place in a train station, and then all of a sudden Zoot's back in the theater. Or that all of the cast could be turned into chickens, except Zoot turns back just at that last minute. But, personally, I think they're small enough that I try not to worry about it too much. Though, I can totally understand wanting to keep those.

 

[Erine81981]

I would keep anything no matter what. I'm still wanting to get every episode on VHS or DVD even if they are recorded versions from different channels. I would love to have season one, two, three, four and five to at least have all the real endings and the cut peices from season one. I had those episodes that had the cuts and they had the real endings. The only reason why i would like any tapes or DVDs with original ending just cause that's the way they were shown to begin with. But that's me.